Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 24, 2017 - June 24 - The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Mass during the Day
[Isa 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80]From this man's [David's] descendants God, according to his promise,has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet." [Acts]
The feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist is very neatly placed six months before we celebrate the nativity of Jesus and three months after the annunciation of Jesus' conception. Mother Nature's schedule is not to be messed with, not even in the liturgy! The early church saw John's earlier birth as a sign of his future ministry to "go before the Lord to prepare the way; to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins." In the quotation above, the evangelist Luke (author of the gospel and Acts) gives us a sample of the early preaching about John the Baptist, which reinforces all that Luke wrote in the first chapter of his gospel portraits of Jesus and John, known as the "infancy narrative." John the Baptist is a big figure!
The effort to celebrate this feast suggests that it has an important message for us now. We are not as concerned as the early church was about the status of John the Baptist. However, we ARE concerned about "going before the Lord to prepare his way." From the descriptions that we have of John the Baptist in his ministry, it was hard to ignore him. Is there a way that we can proclaim the gospel in our own day that can capture the attention of the world? Pope Francis has managed to capture that attention through his emphasis on God's mercy and his challenge to all the baptized to become "missionaries of mercy." The celebration of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist can serve to remind us of that baptismal commitment we all have, and which Pope Francis is trying to rekindle! AMEN
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